MAYORAL INSTALLATION.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XXXIV, Issue 10960, 1 May 1907, Page 2

MAYORAL INSTALLATION.

MR TOWNLEY'S EIGHTEENTH

TERM.

The time-honored ceremony m connection with the annual installation of Mayor took place at the Borough Council Chambers to-day at noon. There were present : The Mayor-elect (Mr Jolm Townley), Crs. Wliinray, Miller, Mann, Bright, Williams, Sawyer, Harding, the Borough officials, and a number of ratepayers. Prior to the main business ol the meeting, the several councillors made the usual declaration necessary m taking office. On the motion of Cr. Harding, Cr. Wliinray was voted to tlie chair. He read an apology from Cr. Sheridan, wlk> wrote: — "Would you kindly apologise for my unavoidable absence from tho installation ceremony to-day, and assure his Worship tliat nothing but a most impor- 1 tant prior appointment could have prevented me from being amongst you to hieartily welcome r Townley back to j that honorable position, which he has oc- ! cupied for the past seventeen years witli such credit and dignity. As one who lias had the honor to serve under his Worship I would have you expre. s my ardent admiration of his -unswerving devotednes 9 to the borough and my .keen appreciation of his honest and highly able administration. It must indeed be a great source of gratification to liis Worship that during the whole of his phenomenal term of office even slander itself has not dared to impute, directly oi indirectly, by inuendb, insinuation, or otherwise one solitary dishonest motive. AJso, I would have you to convey to liis" Worship the assurance tliat I. shall use my utmost endeavors to further the progressive projects lie has mapped out for the forthcoming year. Now that his Worship has decided to join the 'Retired Veteran Reserve,' I am confident tliat every councillor, with whom he fias, been associated cherishes tbe deeprooted hope that (m the blessed companionship of his angelic, admirable, 'much, reverenced, and well-beloved helpmateMrs Townley] he will tbe long' spared to, crown 'a youth of labor with an age of ease,' and though not on the list of active service, -his wise counsel will continue m the future, as m the past,- to prove an important factor m shaping the' destinies of | our rapidly-developing district." I T*he Chbirman thanked the Council for again honoring him m once more placing m his lian_s .the duty of installing the Mayor. They were too conversant . with the Mayor's record to neecf a long review of Mr ibwnley's career. It was the 18th time that Mr Townley had. been returned, and they could not get a better man, for .there wag not a more indefatigable worker m the town. The borough's welfare had been Mr Townley's untiring care, and m no way had he maladministered its affairs, and it was witli the greatest regret that they looked forward to the time when they would not have his services. Cr. Harding said.it was with mingled feelings of pleasure and regret tliat he ad. dressed them tliat day. He was pleased m once moie assisting at the installation of .Mr Townley into that chair which for the past seventeen years he Jiad so worthily filled, but regretted, as his Worship had informed them, that lie. would not again offer himself for the position. "The occasion is unique," continued Cr. Harding. ('Never before .m this colony has any one continuously filled the Mayoral chair lor so long a. term as Mr Townley has. That he lias rilled it ably and well, with. high, credit to himself and with advantage to our town, I haraly need to tell you. This fact is patent, and is known to all of us. When, some thirty years ago, Mr Townley was first elected to tliis Co.incil, Gisborne was but a small place indeed, a mere village of some few Hundred people, arid with but Tude surroundings. To-day it numbers a population of some 6000, and is one pf the foremost and most prosperous towns m the. colony. During' these thirty years of growth Mr Townley has been>closely identified with tlie intert6ts of the town. On him for more than- half of that period Jias/chiefjy rested the^ responsibility of administering our "municipal affairs, and he lias administered tliiem wisely and well. During his long' term of office he has necessarily had opponents, who have criticised lum and hirs; administration freely, as it was right they ,'should ? but as to enemies, it may safely be said he has none. His devotion tb the interests of the town, his integrity, •his sound judgment, and his unfailing courtesy command the respect and esteem of all. Energy and success have followed Ihim m all his undertakings. He Ims been liberal m entertaining visitors, and more than considerate to councillors when presiding at their deliberations. Hip long and) worthy career is one of which we, his townsmen, his children, and his ohildren's children, may weir be proud, arid m the hearts of^the people of tliis district it will for many a long year to come ever keep his memory green. (Applause.) ■ Cr. Bright said they were there to-day to do honor to Mr Townley, who for the eighteenth time had been chosen by the votes of the burgesses to fill the office of Mayor. As Mr Townley had publicly announced it was the last occasion on which he would occupy the position of Mayor, arid so this, was the!, hu.l Occasion on wliich tlicy would have the pleasure of installing him m tliat office. While deeply regretting the loss the town would sustain by Mr Townley's retirement they all felt that his Worship had fully earned liis rest from, public, labors. Proceeding, Cr. Bright referred to the drainage question and other important works which. would. engage the attention of tlie new Council. In eonclu. sion, he said Mr Townley's career lias been, marked by sMgct integrity and honesty of purpose, and'' his -public life had besn entirely devoid of "self-interest. To those M'ho*were m indigent circumstances and unfortunate he had always, been kind and considerate, while to the stranger wno had visited the town his Worship had exercised' a boundless hospitality. lii offering their congratulations to Mr Townley on his re-election, Cr. Bright said lie believed that the. Council would do all inits power to make this year one of the most/successful that tli* town had had, aiid would realise the importance of seeing that Mr Townley's last year ill tine public service would be as complete as possible. (Hear, hear.) ■"**■'...

Cr. Mille- endorsed the remarks of the previous speaker, l'lie burgesses were to' be congratulated on again having Mr Townley as Mayor. There "were many important things to do, as other councillors had &iid. Or. Miller would lik© to •see the metal question settled before his Worship went out of office. They wanted good metal and plenty of it. Tlie Council should also go into the question of doing more permanent; work., i'hey must give up patching and do as much permanent work as possible. As one who had grown up m. the place Cr. Miller wished to thank Mr Townley for many kindnesses to him, and he had always considered it an. honor to liave served with him on fclne. Council. He thought the present Council, the last one that tyr/Townley would over,, was one of the best that the 'town had elected.

Or. Manri. said as a new representative on the Council he felt that liis pleasure m being elected would have been greatly', dampened if Mr Townley had riot been again returned as Mayor. Anything that Mr Townley or any councillor brought forward for the good of Gisbdrne lie promised his absolute and hearty support. Cr. Williams 6aid he' considered himself very fortunate to start on the Council under tlie auspices of the present Mayor, one whom they all thoroughly respected and honored.

Cr. Sawyer said h e felt honored m being returned as councillor for Gisborne borough; and knowing the personnel of the Council, he was certain that they would all join m furthering tlie interests of tl»e town.

Cr. Wliinray said if they lost Mr Townley altogether from their Council and local affaire it would be a very great loss. He thought that notwithstanding his retirement, that Mi' Townley's great experience would be sought after and his advice relied on. In tlie absence of the present Mayors untiring services and knowledge of borough business a great deal more would depend on tlieir present .excellent Town Clerk. Cr. Wliinray then ashed his Worship to make the Mayoral declaration, which Mr .Townley accordingly did." Addressing the Council from the Mayoral chair, Mr Townley Kiid the flattering terms that had been made use of almost prevented him making a reply as he was sure he was not at all worthy of Or. Sheridan's letter and the remarks made by Councillors.

Cr. Wliinray: We think otherwise. The Mayor said he had been a long time m the Council, and Jiad done the" best lie could m the interests of the district. Of course for many years very little could be •done, but recently they liad beengetting oh their feet, and much more had been ocliieved. He could hardly "thank councillors sufficiently for what they had suid about him. He was pleased with the Council elected, and congratulated the burge&es on their choice. It would be a Council for work, and they should make a record for work m the advancement of Gisborne. Better Council Cliambeis were wanted, and the County Council were j moving m tliat direction! The borough , records wer t . increa.sing, and 'the Town Clerk reminded him that there was not sufficient room for them. As to drainage, li© was glad they had Dr. Williams' valuable assistance on that subject. Mr "Mestayer's drainage report had been supported straightforwardly by Mr Hay, who had told them he could not see any method of improving on it. Regarding metal, the enormous amount of work rej quired on their streets, must be patent to j all. For many years "Patutahi was their I only source of supply, but if the Wai- | j hirere source, which the Borough Engineer had got for them, turned out to be any good at all, it- would be much cheaper, and would serve at any rate for tlie side streets, and make a good foundation for the main roads. The shingle they had been getting absorbed a lot of money, and soon got churned into mud. His Wonship said he would be cvev ready to listen to any suggestion from councillors for the progress of the town. They had a good Town Clerk, and the Health Officer was satisfied with the work of their inspector Tho Engineer, whose services they luid lately obtained, was doing his best m the interest ..-of ft™ town ll__

the two most important works, and he hoped they would not have to undo a lot of their drainage worn, ns was the case -m Dunedin. All who had seen their source of water supply praised it highly, and said -- was sufficient for 25,000 people, so there was no need to fear a shortage. After referring to tlie loss sustain-, ed by the absence of Crs. Lysnar, ReeSj^/— and Webb, the Mayor welcomed their sue. cessors. who, lie said, were all old residents of the place. In conclusion, hia Worship said lie would give every councillor fair play, and he trusted all would 4iiyte with him m furthering the work of, tbe towh. Too muoh time had been wasted m the past m discussing points which was really like beating them' to death after) they had already been finished' with. He had to thank the officers of the Council for' their assistance during tlie year. The accounts of the borough, as kept by the Town Clerk, had been called a model by one auditor. The meeting then adjourned;